


Chest pains

by Phantomxlegend



Series: Percy Jackson one-shots :p [107]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Coming Out, Gender Dysphoria, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kinda, Post BoO, Trans Male Character, Trans Nico di Angelo, Will is a good Friend, a bit - Freeform, but it’s not really described, but like not at all, do NOT bind with bandages, like right after the events of that book, more neutral, pre solangelo, this is a bit of angst, unsafe binding methods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27038965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantomxlegend/pseuds/Phantomxlegend
Summary: Check ups are the bane of Nico’s existence.  The bandages around his chest are more than enough a reminder of who he is.  Others don’t need to know that.Will is a lot more understanding than Nico would’ve thought.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace
Series: Percy Jackson one-shots :p [107]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701808
Comments: 4
Kudos: 164





	Chest pains

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I’ll try and write more trans Nico content in the future. This is kinda crap but whatever. I tried and this is a lot longer than I thought it would be. Idk it’s like midnight. Enjoy.

Nico truly didn’t think that the day could have gotten worse, and it was barely noon.

_ Three days of rest in the infirmary. _

The words rang in his head over and over. It was three days, 72 hours and he could get out of this hell hole. Not that the infirmary was a bad place to be in, of course not. It was clean, and the Apollo kids were very nice. And getting to spend some more time with Will was a bit of a plus.

But three days in the infirmary also meant that, obviously, he would need to get checked over by a doctor.

“Nico please, you have no medical records of anything, I need you to take your shirt off so that I can make sure you’re not actually dying on me,” Will begged, “and who knows what kind of injury you’ve been hiding.”

Nico’s chest constricted painfully, there was no way he was taking his shirt off in front of anyone.

“No way.”

Will was silent for a beat, he seemed to be weighing his options, “okay,” Nico could practically see the gears turning in Will’s head, “is it me? Are you not comfortable around me? I can call one of my siblings over to give you the physical.”

Nico hated that idea even more “no!”

Will leaned back on his heels, he puffed his cheeks out, “I need to give you a physical, Nico. It’s required.”

“Not happening, I’m not taking my shirt off,” Nico wrapped his arms around himself, his ribs ached.

Will let out a slow breath, rubbing his cheek, “there are a couple rooms down the hall that are empty for privacy. Would you feel more comfortable going in one of those?”

Nico chewed that over for a bit, it was in no means a good situation. But… Will was someone trustworthy? Right? A private room is better.

“Fine,” he relented.

The tension in Will’s shoulders drained, “okay, come on.”

Will led Nico through a doorway next to the sink, it led to a hall with doors on either side, all the while Will continued talking.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me you’d be uncomfortable out there. It’s just… I suppose I got used to most of my male patients having no shame and just ripping their shirts off,” Will chuckled awkwardly, Nico’s stomach did a dangerous flip, he hoped that he wouldn’t be sick.

The room that Will led Nico in was small, there was a medical cot and a desk along with some chairs. It was about exactly what you’d expect for an infirmary room.

“I need to make sure that your lungs are fine, heartbeat all of that, and also tend to wounds that you’ve probably gotten throughout the last few weeks, okay?” Will spread his hands, “that’s all, and then you can put your shirt back on and I’ll finish up with the rest of everything else. That seem reasonable?”

It was a reasonable request, it didn’t change the fact that Nico hated every single part of this. He had talked to Will very few times prior and he didn’t like having to reveal the one thing he’s kept hidden for years. The fact that Will was only his doctor helped ease some worry. The fact that Will was the same age as him and also a demigod along with everyone else here, did not.

“This’ll be quick, five minutes depending on the injuries,” Will said in an attempt to be reassuring. Nico sat down on the cot.

“Okay…” Nico murmured, “I still hate this with every inch of my being.”

“Not a lot of inches there,” Will joked halfheartedly, he quickly apologized after receiving a stern glare.

Swallowing down bile, Nico lifted his shirt over his head, dropping it on the spot next to him. He fixed his eyes on a spot on the wall, that might’ve been a bug, Nico didn’t care what it was as long as he could avoid looking at Will. He heard Will suck in a sharp breath and swear quietly.

Bandages wrapped around Nico’s chest in a haphazard way, a desperate attempt to hide the tissue there. Disgusting was what it was.

“Jesus Christ, Nico,” Will muttered, “what happened?”

So Will didn’t realize yet? Nico swallowed thickly and tore his eyes away from the spot on the wall to look at Will. Nico didn’t say anything.

“The bandages look dirty, how long have you had them on?” Will asked, scooting closer, his fingers curled around the ends of them. Nico barely was able to resist the urge to push him away. Nico desperately wanted to run, get out of this room, out of the infirmary, but he doubted that he could go far.

“A few weeks,” Nico spat out, his tongue felt like lead, he didn’t even know the answer to Will’s question, but anything to satisfy him.

“What happened?”

There was the question again, the question that Nico couldn’t think quick enough for a convincing answer.

“Wolves…”

No way Will would believe that, not that he was slowly unwrapping the bandages, his brows furrowed in concentration. Nico winced every time his fingers brushed against his side.

The bandages fell away and Nico wanted nothing more than to cover his chest and hide. Will was staring at him now, realization dawning on his face.

“Jesus…” Will licked his lips.

Nico tried to think of something to say, anything, a threat? An apology? Some sort of explanation? 

“Good gods, Nico that looks really bad, those bruises, does it hurt?” Will pressed gently around the breast tissue. Nico sucked in a sharp breath.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Will whispered, “does it hurt to breathe?”

“Sort of.”

There wasn’t any judgement behind Will’s expression, Will didn’t seem to care that Nico was trans. At least at the moment he didn’t. He was more concerned about the state of his chest. Will was a  _ doctor _ .

“How long have you been binding like this?” Will asked, then quickly cut himself off and rephrased it, “I mean, currently, when was the last time you took the bandages off to let your chest breathe.”

Nico tried to think, “maybe… a few days ago?”

Will sucked in a sharp breath, “gods… okay… It doesn’t feel anything is broken which is truly a miracle of the gods considering the craziness that has happened over the last few days, and, my gods, Nico di Angelo, I thought that shadow traveling across the world was the stupidest thing you’ve done but I think this takes the cake. Your ribs feel very bruised and you’re gonna be in a lot of pain for a while.”

“I know,” Nico grit his teeth, “what other choice did I have? What other choice do I have?”

“First things first, I need to heal what I can for today, get that out of the way, finish the checkup and then we need to have a talk, I’m not forcing you to tell me anything you don’t want to but I ask you listen to me,” Will folded his hands together, “then I’ll leave you alone for a while.”

Nico didn’t really want to hear Will talk, but it didn’t seem like Nico had a choice.

“Fine,” Nico glared at Will, his heart fluttering rapidly in his chest. Why Will was so calm about this, so okay about this didn’t make sense to Nico.

Will didn’t say anything to Nico as he worked at healing his chest and all the various other bruises and scrapes that he had sustained over his trip. Will’s expression was tight set in determination and Nico wasn’t sure that if he said something, Will would even register it.

“Okay,” Will said softly as Nico put his shirt back on, he hated how tight it felt suddenly. How wrong it felt.

“What?” Nico snapped, he hunched his shoulders, trying to shrink away from Will, actively ignoring the pain that radiated from everywhere. Nico was good at ignoring his own pain.

“You realize how harmful that is? I know you’re smart so I know you realize that?” Will sat down in the desk chair and rolled it near the edge of the cot that Nico was sitting on. Nico just nodded mutely.

“I understand your thinking on it, disregard for your own health, all that,” Will took a slow breath, “and I know how much you’ll hate me saying this, you cannot bind like this anymore. As your doctor I cannot let you do this.”

“What do you mean you understand? You don’t understand my thinking at all Will,” Nico spat, he grit his teeth, “I have no other choice, I can’t just go around like… this.” Nico gestured to his chest with disgust written on his features.

“I know, trust me. You need to let your chest and ribs heal, that is a requirement, that’ll take a few weeks at minimum,” Will said, “when I can be sure that your chest is healed I’ll get you a binder so at least it’s safer, as long as you wear it right.”

“You‘ll…” Nico gaped at Will, “really?”

Will nodded, “of course, but you have to make sure that you stay safe with it, but right now you need to heal, that’s the main concern. After everything that’s happened you are worn out and not to mention almost breaking probably several ribs,” Will licked his lips, “I’ll leave you alone for a bit but in an hour I’ll be back with some nectar and ambrosia, along with lunch and I want you to eat that.”

“Okay,” Nico couldn’t say anything else but just agree, his mind was working overtime, thinking of Will’s promise to a binder.

“I’ll let my siblings know that you’re going to be staying back here,” Will pushed himself up to his feet, flashing Nico a thumbs up, “lay down and rest for a while di Angelo.”

Nico nodded, watching the door shut behind Will, and listening to his receding footsteps down the hall. Nico buried his face in his hands, a range of different emotions swirling around in his chest. Will would help.

**Author's Note:**

> *loose shrug* I tried ig idk. The ending kinda sucks a lot because I didn’t know how to end it.
> 
> Don’t fricken bind with bandages i stg it’s extremely dangerous, there are other safer ways to bind if you don’t have access to a binder, along with resources online to find information. Stay safe.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
